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Jamey Hatley suspects that she is a “novelist by temperament.” She is currently using this temperament to expand her short story, “Dream Season,” (Published in Oxford American) into her first novel, making Hatley an up-and-coming author to keep your eye on. Viewing herself as a storyteller, Hatley’s interests lie in the equal development of both “character and plot… stories with complex characters in difficult situations that get progressively more difficult.” Hatley explores “the wins and losses in post Civil Rights Movement America,” within Dream Season. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther is certainly a difficult and tense enough situation – but add the element of twins born at the exact same moment and the consequent death of one those twins, and you obtain the premise of Hatley’s novel-in-progress.
Hatley attributes much of her success to her “voice…People have said there is a kind of complexity in my work, a richness that they enjoy.” Hatley also contends that her voice alone is not enough to fill a niche within the literary world. She argues against the idea that once you have read a book written by an author of color, you have read them all. Rather, Hatley states, “There are an infinite number of stories to be told by people who, on the surface, appear to be the same.”
Believe it or not, despite her enthusiasm to take on such themes as race, humanity, grief, and healing, Hatley was originally terrified of entering the literary world. Instead, Hatley took the sensible route with degrees in marketing and journalism. In the aftermath of 9/11, however, Hatley found herself with two choices: to live in fear or create art. For her, the decision was all too clear: Art. “Writing continues to terrify me, but I love it,” she states.